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Are you still the you that you used to be? And other questions of self-continuity

From child to adult, the aging process..
Peter Dazeley
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The Image Bank RF / Getty Images
Are you the same person, today, that you were when you were a little kid? Are you the same person, right now, that you will be in the last years of your life?

Are you the same person, today, that you were when you were a little kid? Are you the same person, right now, that you will be in the last years of your life?

When Scotty beams folks up, are the people arriving back on the Enterprise really the same people who were down on the surface of whatever alien planet? In a movie like Mickey 17, is the 16th cloned Mickey really the same person as the original, first Mickey?

This hour, a look at the age-old philosophical concept of continuity of self.

GUESTS:

  • Edward Ashton: The author of six novels, including Mickey7, which has been adapted as the movie Mickey 17
  • David Finkelstein: Associate professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago
  • Hal Hershfield: Professor of marketing and behavioral decision making at UCLA and one of the authors of MIT’s Future You project

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Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.

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Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.